"It is the most important victory of my career." -- Head Coach Dick Voris, after the Hoos’ 15-12 victory over Duke on September 27, 1958. Voris finished his UVA career with a record of 1-29.

"We've stopped recruiting young men who want to come here to be students first and athletes second." -- Former Virginia head coach Sonny Randle, describing his strategy for turning around UVA's football program

"As the score mounted, to 20-0 and finally 26-0, his movements slowed. With two minutes to go and South Carolina threatening once more, Voris stood behind several rows of substitutes, staring at his shoes." -- Sports Illustrated, describing Coach Voris’ stellar coaching performance during the Hoos’ 26-0 loss to South Carolina in 1960

"Really, Texas wasn't as good as I thought they'd be." -- Ted Manly, Virginia's freshman quarterback, after Texas had spanked the Hoos 68-0

UVA Football’s Top 20 Stomach Punch Games (1989-2008)

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The losses that really rip your heart out usually occur during seasons where there are especially high expectations. Those are the seasons where the perceived talent on the roster has you looking ahead on the schedule and dreaming about conference championships, big bowl games, and getting drunk in new and exciting locales. But fan expectations aren't always closely aligned with reality, especially for a program like UVA that struggles to maintain a consistent level of success from year to year.

Al Groh has had a very rocky tenure as coach at the University of Virginia in large part because of fan expectations, and the 2008 season was no different. Groh had earned a little equity with the team's 2007 performance, which featured a 9-4 record and a Gator Bowl appearance, but more critical fans were quick to note that several 2007 wins (Maryland, Middle Tennessee, and Wake Forest) were by the slimmest of margins. On top of that, the spring of 2008 saw the offseason departure of resident cyborg Chris Long to the NFL, as well as the losses of QB Jameel Sewell, CB Chris Cook and top returning defensive player Jeffrey Fitzgerald to academic casualties. With that, the 2007 success started to look like it would be more of an outlier than an upward trend.

It was with these somewhat muddied expectations that the 2008 season would kick off for the Hoos. It would turn out to be one of the weirdest seasons in UVA football history. The ups and downs of the season were abrupt and unmistakable, and the Miami game (more than any other) was a microcosm of those extreme momentum shifts. While a win would have set the stage for an exciting finish to the season, the game quickly dashed UVA's conference title hopes and, by the end of the year, Groh would again find himself fully on the coaching hot seat.

Background

Expectations aside, there are two things that are impossible to deny about the 2008 season:

At the end of September, UVA was a complete mess and one of the worst BCSconference teams in the nation.

At the end of October, they led the ACC Coastal Division and controlled their own destiny for a conference championship and Orange Bowl appearance.

September included exactly zero Division 1-A wins. The Hoos were outscored 128-36, lost their starting QB to some vague legal troubles that may or may not have involved smokable vegetation, and got completely housed by Duke, ending the Blue Devils' 25-game conference losing streak.

Then things got really weird. After the 31-3 loss to Duke, UVA returned home to play Maryland. The Terps would win eight games in 2008, including four against ranked teams. So what happened? The Hoos won 31-0, of course. UVA would go on to win four games in a row, including wins over ranked UNC and Georgia Tech teams that were likely looking past the Hoos on the schedule. The team was led by emotional RB Cedric Peerman and the improved play of QB Marc Verica, who had some talent, but was a bit of a turnover machine at inopportune times (foreshadowing alert!).

Now, on November 1, the Hoos found themselves atop the Coastal Division of the ACC at 3-1. While no one believed UVA was a BCS-caliber team, it was a winning streak that finally began to resonate with fans and make people believe there was at least an outside chance they could actually win out and reach the ACC Championship game. In other words, it was just enough to ratchet up the expectations, and people were genuinely excited for the Miami game that weekend.

In a platoon reminiscent of Aaron Brooks/Tim Sherman, the Canes featured a two-headed QB combo of Robert Marve and Jacory Harris. Unfortunately for the Hoos, the Canes were beginning to figure out that Harris, even as a freshman, was the far less sucky option and were playing him more and more.

No question the Canes had talent, but they were still extremely young and it was thought the Hoos could take advantage of the matchups, playing at home and still on a roll from their undefeated October.

Here's how this game graded out:

Size of Lead Lost – 3 out of 10 Points

Other than a two-minute stretch in the first quarter when Miami held a 7-3 lead, the Hoos never trailed during regulation play. After a two-yard pass from Verica to WR Jared Green late in the second quarter, the Hoos took a 17-10 lead. The lead held up through most of the second half as the teams traded missed scoring opportunities. Miami would eventually take over from their own 5 yard line with eight minutes left. Harris, inserted for the mostly ineffective Marve, then proceeded to march them on a 95 yard drive that took seven minutes off the clock and featured a converted 3rd and 13 deep in their own territory, as well as a 26 yard TD pass on 3rd and 15 with 55 seconds left.

Level of Choke – 7 out of 10 Points

Even with the late, dramatic TD pass by the Canes, the Hoos only needed a FG to win the game. In overtime, after the Canes scored a TD on another third down pass by Harris, the Hoos needed a matching TD. On both of these critical drives, the Hoos fumbled. On the first one, Verica scrambled to the edge of FG range with 32 seconds left, utilized less ball security than Reggie Love at a UNC fraternity party, and consequently coughed it up. On UVA's first offensive play in overtime, Cedric Peerman briefly broke loose, but was then stripped of the ball, which was immediately recovered by the Canes.

Game over. Everybody go home. Oh, and our next win will be in 2009.

Singular Moment – 6 out of 10 Points

In many ways, the Verica fumble was more jarring than the late TD pass on 3rd and 15. In the Hoos' previous home game, Verica led UVA on a late TD drive against UNC to tie the score in a game Virginia would win in overtime. The final drive in regulation for UVA had a similar feel, as Verica began marching the Hoos down the field. When he rushed for a first down inside the 35 yard line, things were looking good for the home team. Was Verica really the clutch, crunch-time player the Hoos could count on not to make the game-changing mistake at the worst possible moment? Um, no.

Painful Finish – 7 out of 10 Points

An overtime loss is almost always way too abrupt and jarring. You spend close to four hours living and dying with the team and then, just like that, it's over. This one was especially shocking because Cedric Peerman never - I repeat, NEVER - fumbled. But as Ced raced inside the 15, he was grabbed from behind and lost the ball. Game over. Ced, flashing his best Frank Beamer "who farted?" expression, was as shocked as everyone in the crowd.

Season Killer – 5 out of 10 Points

When you consider the Hoos would go into Winston Salem the following week and trail 28-3 at halftime and that the team wouldn't win another game in 2008, its hard to argue the Miami game didn't kill the season. It's also hard to ignore the team's September performance and wonder, even with the wild swings in performance during the season, whether the Hoos could have won any of their remaining games anyway. But there is no doubt there was never as much at stake after the Miami loss.

Long-Term Implications – 2 out of 10 Points

When an objective observer takes a look at the state of the Virginia football program and the performance of Coach Al Groh over the last few years, the Miami loss probably doesn't register as a major indicator of the direction of the program. This game easily could have been a win if not for a couple of really egregious mistakes that cost the Hoos the game. But the more systemic issues of poor offensive production, mediocre/inconsistent QB play, poor offensive playcalling, bad turnovers, and spotty recruiting were all on display in this game. In short, there are many other losses in 2008 and 2009 that will likely lead to Groh's dismissal before the loss to Miami, but it was easy to see this was still a mediocre-at-best football team despite their standing in the Coastal Division at the time.

Conclusion

When coming up with a list of the 20 greatest wins or the 20 most heartbreaking losses, it seems odd to put a game on the list from a season that was thoroughly sub-mediocre. Who cares that we lost a heartbreaker, we were 5-7, right? But rarely do 5-win seasons include 4-game winning streaks that get people believing a historic turnaround is possible. That's a big reason why 2008 was such a weird season, where a 5-7 finish somewhat masks the fact that the team was 5-3 entering the stretch run. The subsequent loss to Miami certainly ended any lofty aspirations for the Hoos in 2008, and it did so in sudden death fashion. For that, it earns a place as a top-20 SPG.